Obama vs. the other guy, 2008

Obama Building Big Organization in Indiana

Following up on yesterday’s post about Obama’s organizing efforts in Michigan, today, we turn the focus on Indiana, where Obama’s gotten a big head-start on McCain (which most likely doesn’t take seriously the notion that Obama can win Indiana):

The election is four months away, but for now the score in Indiana is Barack Obama, 6; John McCain, 0.

Zero campaign offices, that is.

Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has opened five campaign offices — in Evansville, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Muncie and South Bend — and will open a sixth in Bloomington on Monday.

Jonathan Swain, a spokesman for Obama’s campaign in Indiana, said plans are to have 25 to 30 campaign offices in the state.

What’s more amazing is, the McCain campaign isn’t even PLANNING on opening an Indiana office:

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is taking a different approach to Indiana.

Some might call it confident; some might call it laid-back at best.

Asked whether the campaign has any plans to open an office in Indiana, campaign spokeswoman Leah Yoon — who is based in Michigan, not Indiana — had a one-word answer: “No.”

Jay Kenworthy, spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party, however, said that while there is no office, there is a new phone number at the state party headquarters for people wanting to contact McCain’s campaign: (317) 964-5042. (As far as we can tell, that doesn’t spell anything cute, or even his name.)

I’d like to see some new polling on the state to see whether Obama’s efforts are in vain or not, but McCain must really think it’s out of reach to not even bother investing in infrastructure. Here’s hoping he’s wrong.

About Strategy ’08

Strategy ’08 is a new blog dedicated to covering issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. Authors are long-time bloggers and unabashed Barack Obama supporters dansac, slinkerwink, turneresq, zenbowl, smash artist and gdh1 who often post on DailyKos and elsewhere.